Adult Education Fall 2024

Fall 2024 Offerings

Sukkot: Walk the Talk; Taught by Steve Jones

Saturday, October 19 from 1:00pm-3:00pm

Tuition: $5 (Members), $10 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

“Walk the Talk” is a series of guided outdoor experiences in which participants learn about “reading” the natural landscape as a text. Participants walk for about an hour and a half in the nearby Wissahickon forest, observe the elements of the natural world, learn about ecological relationships, and study short Jewish texts. Participants should wear sturdy shoes and sensible clothes for the outdoors.

Intermediate Hebrew; Taught by Rabbi Meryl Crean

Tuesdays from 7:00pm-8:30pm: October 22-January 14

Please note there is no class on November 5, December 24, or December 31.

Tuition: $200 (Members), $250 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

If you already know the aleph-bet, but never cracked the code,
If you like to come to shul, but can't quite follow the Hebrew,
Then this class is for you. 

This class is designed to help you enter the world of Hebrew prayer. Using the textbook Aleph Isn't Enough building on the beginner book Aleph Isn't Tough. In addition to each lesson and companion exercises, we delve into the meanings and rhythms of Jewish prayer.

Learn to Chant Torah; Taught by Cantor David Acker

Saturdays from 12:00pm-1:00pm: October 26-December 7

Please note there is no class on November 30.

Tuition: $120 (Members), $150 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

By the end of six classes, participants will be able to chant at least one complete aliyah, approximately 3 verses in length. Students will have the option to participate as a Torah reader in an upcoming service. A good facility with decoding Hebrew letters and vowels is a prerequisite.

7 Great Reasons to Learn to Chant Torah:

1. You like puzzles and challenges.
2. To exercise your mind.
3. To build community.
4. To connect to 2000+ year old traditions.
5. To share in the “joys and oys” of what your B-Mitzvah kid is doing.
6. It’s a MITZVAH!
7. It’s FUN! 

Ethical Wills; Taught by Rabbi Tsurah August

Mondays: October 28, November 11, November 25 from 6:30pm-8:00pm

                Please note the first two classes will be held at P’Nai Or and the third class at Mishkan Shalom.

Suggested Donation: $60 (Members), $75 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

We are delighted to offer this collaborative class between P’nai Or and Mishkan Shalom.  This three-week series aims to inspire and guide us in creating documents for passing down the wealth of wisdom and enduring values we have developed over our lifetimes, to future generations. Tzava’ot, the Jewish term for these documents, often called “Ethical Wills” or, more recently “Heart Wills” is an ancient practice, frequently cited as having its origins in Jacob’s final blessings to his sons. Tzava’ot can be created in almost any format, e.g. written letter, poem, audio or video, et al. Unlike a traditional “memoire”, Tzava’ot focus on our values, beliefs, and life lessons, presented via personal stories, hopes, dreams, feelings, etc. woven together to help our values live on.

Dance Your Inner Fire; Taught by Natanya Apfelbaum

Thursdays from 6:00pm-7:30pm: November 7-December 19

                Please note there is no class on November 28.

Tuition: $120 (Members), $150 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

Would you like to feel more free to be yourself and authentically connected to others? Come experience how dance is a natural way to express your spirit and to deepen in community. 

In this series, you will transform stuckness into joy, feeling disconnected into belonging and feeling scattered into inner rhythm. Dance Your Inner Fire draws inspiration from the dances of the Romani people, nomadic peoples with a vast tradition of movement and from the concept of duende, the inner fire. These dances are earthy and liberatory ~ a celebration of life and spirit in trying times!

This movement practice is an invitation to strengthen your own embodiment and find a rich source of inner and outer connection. At times deeply meditative, at times high energy, we will invite duende into our dance and into our lives. Moving together will inspire you to lift your energy and mood, to develop a sense of community through movement and to find more musicality in your dance.  

The class will comprise three main parts: waking up the body through stretching and rhythm practice, dance games to playfully engage with others and group co-created movement. There is absolutely no experience required, and the class is a welcoming space for people at all levels of ability.
 

From Self-Critic to Self-Care; Taught by Claudia Apfelbaum

Wednesday, November 13: 6:30pm-8:30pm

Tuition: $20 (Members), $25 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

There is so much beauty in our shared Jewish history and so much to be proud of: our creativity, intelligence and zaniness, our pluck and perseverance, our moral and ethical values. Sometimes we, as Jews, value ourselves too much and at other times we sharply criticize and undermine ourselves.

In this mini workshop, we will take a look at our own personal take on ourselves. Where do we overvalue ourselves? Where do we cut ourselves down? And most importantly, how can we develop and maintain a sense of well-being in the midst of all that is raging in our lives and in the world? Time will be spent learning effective strategies for self-compassion, ways to reframe the critical voice in our heads and ways for self-repair and self-care.

Soulful Sundays: Further along the Road of Jewish Peoplehood; Taught by Rabbi Shawn Zevit

Sunday, November 17 from 10:00am-11:30am

Tuition: $10 (Members), $15 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

Building on the theme we explored during the High Holy Days, we will study the ideas of Jewish Peoplehood and Ethical Community as initially offered by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan as part of Reconstructionist thought, and how that idea has evolved through the window of contemporary events and evolving ideas and experience of being part of Jewish community today. To prepare, please read the following: Kaplan Center: Belonging, Jewish Peoplehood Reconsidered, Jewish Peoplehood.

Soul Collage; Taught by Wendy Galson and Susan Windle

Sunday, November 17: 2:00pm-5:00pm

Tuition: $40 (Members), $45 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

Awakening to Earth’s Call through Soul Collage offers a quiet afternoon gathering of intuition-driven creativity, informed by the season and the moment in the Jewish year.  Participants assemble collages from Mishkan’s collection of visual images; journaling and sharing allow the collages to unfold their personal meaning.

We use the card-making techniques of Seena Frost’s SoulCollage® (https://www.soulcollage.com/). We invite participants to experience the card creation process as dream work, to journal and talk about our cards as dreams, using a process developed by the Kohenet Institute.

No experience necessary; all materials provided. 

Torah and Film: The Book of Job and A Serious Man (2009); Taught by Rabbinic Intern Noah Dor Lind

Sunday, January 5: 5:30pm-7:30pm

Sunday, January 12: 5:30pm-9:00pm (Dinner will be Provided)

Tuition: $40 (Members), $60 (Non-Members)

Register Here!

Rabbinic Intern Noah Dor Lind brings their passion for cinema and Scripture together with this two-part adult education offering. Please note this class is only open to those over age 18.

The Book of Job is one of the most powerful and paradoxical stories in our tradition. Through its recitation we hear ancient questions echoing across time: "Why is there suffering? By what process does misfortune fall on one person and not another? Where is Hashem in the midst of tragedy?" These questions are also at the heart of the 2009 film, A Serious Man, which follows Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern physics professor who turns to his faith to try to understand why his life is falling apart.

This class is a two-parter: The first week we will study excerpts of Job to get an overview of the themes and do a close reading practice to reveal its resonances in our modern context. The second week there will be a screening of A Serious Man, followed by a discussion on the movie and the same close reading practice adapted to fit the medium of film. Dinner will be provided.

Though the Coen brothers have since debunked the rumor that A Serious Man is an adaptation of the book of Job, putting these two Jewish stories of misfortune and absurdity next to each other has rich spiritual lessons for us to uncover.

Please see here for some of our previous Adult Education offerings.